Speaking of...

My dear friend Kate is in town this weekend, and we met up yesterday to have lunch and go to a museum. We never got to the museum. I mean, we only had four hours, and by the time we were done talking and walking there was no time for art.

You would like Kate. One of my fantasies in life is to have a monthly salon in which I invite three or four women I like (but who don't know each other) to dinner.  I'm blessed to know a lot of interesting women, people with disparate backgrounds and ideas, and I think it would be extremely wonderful to bring them together.

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Speaking of interesting women, I went to a PTA fundraising committee meeting at Snuggler's school on Wednesday. I really, really like meeting people from completely different backgrounds who think in ways I haven't thought of and who have a bedrock assumption that we're all working together.

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Speaking of Snuggler's school, thanks to my daughter's longstanding interest in providing clean water for kids in Africa, a woman from WaterAid Uganda is coming to talk to the 6th grade classes next week. WaterAid has some good, free educational materials you can use with your kids, and they also have a way to set up a personal fundraising page. Snuggler set up a page in first grade and raised over $1500 to build wells.

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Speaking of water, my kids have been on a milk-drinking spree, making milkshakes and smoothies and Ovaltine. Usually we limit milk to a glass or two a day, and the rest of the time we drink waster. Tap water. It's free, you know. When you're going through a gallon or more of milk a day, you quickly notice that milk is not free.

Part of the milk thing is my fault, because I obsess over protein. Snuggler takes medicine that makes food distasteful to her, which means she generally doesn't eat between 7:30 am (when she takes the meds) and 4pm (when she walks in the door). This creates a food challenge, since low blood sugar = banshee, and she can't think clearly enough to know she is hungry. So I cram in the protein at breakfast and hand her something with protein (usually a smoothie or something sweet with extra protein added) as soon as she walks in the door from school.

It's occurred to me that people who live through famines must be really, really cranky with each other a lot of the time.

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Speaking of milk, the other reason to limit milk intake for the kids is so that when I get up there is still some milk for my coffee.

Arrrrrgh!

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Speaking of things to keep you awake and happy, Snuggler and Little Guy open in Stuart Little tonight. Snuggler is Snowbell the cat. Little Guy is the snotty rich kid at the sailboat pond.


Somewhat miraculously, Snuggler's speech impediment has improved dramatically this year. After all the non-progress with speech therapy, the thing that seems to have worked is improving core body strength. Does that make sense? Yes, in a way I think it does. Because when her core body is strong and coordinated, the peripheral things (like keeping her jaw from sliding around when she speaks!) fall into place.

If you're around and want to see the show, their cast runs today at 7pm, next Saturday at 3pm, and Sunday the 28th at 4pm. Email me for details.